The Miami Heat were one broken hand or shoulder from losing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. With that said, there is no doubt that Bam Adebayo’s block on Jayson Tatum at the end of the game was an incredible feat of strength and agility.
On the Locked On Heat Podcast, host David Ramil said Bam’s block was the most impressive he’d ever seen from a Heat player — a list that includes LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Shaquille O’Neal and former Defensive Player of the Year Alonzo Mourning.
David Ramil: Magic Johnson called that the best defensive play he's ever seen the playoffs and that's probably a little bit exaggerated. That's Magic, right?
At the same time it was a hell of a play. For Adebayo to be… I just I didn't see him even be able to close out that gap between him and Tatum as quickly as he was. But to be able to get the hand up and Tatum had the full strength and momentum of going up for that dunk. I thought he was going to be able to flush it through. But if you look at the replay, like Adebayo just had his hand bent at a 90 degree angle, and [he] was somehow able to send it back with force.
That was as impressive a block as I've seen in Miami Heat history, and that's having seen Alonzo Mourning during the peak as a Defensive Player of the Year.
That was a phenomenal play from Adebayo, great playmaking, his passing continues to improve. You just see his connectivity with his teammates continue to grow throughout the playoffs, and I've been impressed all year long by everything Bam does. Somehow in the playoffs, he manages to take it to another level. While you hope that his offense comes around to the point where he's able to knock down that long range shot with some regularity, he still makes so many winning plays that he's absolutely deserving of all the praise he gets.
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